The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1887-05-18

plant growth as potash, Is the other
element in which clover is so rich.
Now as continual cropping takes from
the soil more or less of these two essen
tial elements it follows, as a matter of
course, that unless these two elements
are restored to the soil in some way
complete depletion must eventually
take place. Turning under clover will
do il for awhile, but as it returns to
the soil no more than it took from it
we must complement from some other
source, or complete exhaustion is sure
to follow. In this connection it were
well to quote the language of one of
the most scientific farmers (MechD of
England, who, in speaking of the rob-
berry of the land in this country, said:
We have seen the earlier-settled por-
tions of America already exhausted and
impoverished, and now the virgin soils
of the far West are undergoing the
same depletion" But we need not go
to England for advice in this matter.
We may go farther back and take les
sons of the heather Chinee. The en-
pire of China, with its hundreds of
millions more of population to support
than this country contains, has done so
IOI InOIG Jndu bWO lnOuSdhu 1Odlo
from its hand-tiled fields alone, with
out the importation, until lately, of
single grain of food from any other
quarter. The secret of its ability to
accomplish this lies in the fact that not
single element of fertility which ex-
perience has taught them will aid in
maintaining the fertility of the soil
not even the clippings of the barber
shops-is allowed to go to waste, but is
carefully saved and applied to the land.
So that, with all our Wanted knowledge
and improved machinery, the Chinese
are just as far in advance of us or the
more skilled cultivators of Europe as
the latter are of the very ranchmen on
our Pacific coast. - Burlington Free
Press.
ALFALFA.-Last spring the Hebron
Brothers of this city sent carload of
calves from Sacramento to their Wild
Flower ranch in Fresno county. The
stock was of the best blood and was
put in an alfalfa field. They were kept
there on this green feed through the
spring, summer and winter. One day
last week twenty head of the yearlings
were placed in a car and returned to
this city, where they were slaughtered
for Christmas meats. The lightest one
weighed five hundred pounds, while
several of the larger ones tipped the
beam at over seven hundred. The
meat is said by market-men to be finer
than anything that has been seen in
this city for the past ten years, and
proves conclusively what can be done
on the sandy wastes of Fresno with in
dustry. water and alfalfa seed. Seven
years ago the land in question could
not be given away. 1t was a level,
sandy plain, that shifted with the wind,
and no sign of vegetation was to be
seen anywhere, except species of
sagebrush and few specimens of the
cactus family. To-day it is fenced,
and the fields of grain, meadows of
alfalfa and extensive vineyards are the
pride of many an honest farmer. When
August Hebron first obtained posses
sion of section of this land he offered
to give quarter of it to friend.
When viewing the uninviting tract the
latter refused the proffered gift. He
wanted "no desert in his" This land
is nearly all in alfalfa and supports
hundreds of cattle and sheep, which re-
quire no care whatever. They have an
unlimited supply at all seasons of green
and nutritious feed, and go to the
market in far superior condition to
that purpose. The lambs shipped from
that place last week are as large as
full-grown sheep, fat as butter, and of
course, when age is taken into con-
sideration, of superior quality. This
goes to prove what can be done in
every part of this great valley of
California in the livestock business
by industrious farmers. - Sacramento
| Record Union.
ALsIKE.-Sow piece yearly. You
will see the results in your honey crop.
Farmers find it paying crop for fodder
or seed. When plowed under it makes
a good fertilizer-better than red clover.
1t has fine stocks and little woody fiber,
hence it is eaten clean by stock. Not
only have as many acres as possible
yourself, but persuade your neighbors
to also. If sown this season it will not
yield honey to speak of until another
year. 1t may bridge over poor sea-
son. An acre frequently yields four
bushels of seed and brings at wholesale
Sc to 81 per bushel. If part of "a piece
is cut and fed to stock before it bios
SONS it will then blossom after the
usual bloom is over. For one crop on
wet or clay land sow four pounds of
alsike; this equals ten or twelve pounds
of red clover. For permanent pasturage
or for dry land mix two pounds of al
sike with the usual quantity of timothy
and red clover and they help each other.
Timothy and red clover shade the al
sike and keep it up, or prevent lodging,
while the roots of the latter make a
firm sod.-Samuel CuShman, IN Home
stead.